Friday Five and a half – How do you do it?

I’ve gotten a few emails lately – most from friends but one from a writer-mom I don’t know who read my blog – asking how I manage to balance family, teaching, and writing. The answer: like one of those circus jugglers who have to toss up and catch six flaming tiki torches at once, riding a unicycle on a tightrope and eating cotton candy the whole time.

Sometimes it works. And sometimes I fall off, and the torches fall and catch my unicycle on fire and turn my cotton candy into a gooey, burned mess. Today’s Friday Five and a half (because there’s always more than you can fit in a day, really) is about the balance…or not.

1. My middle-grade-novel-that-used-to-be-called-MAPLE-GIRL (Walker Books, 2009) is going to copy edits and might even have a real title soon.

2. I have lost my cell phone. Have you seen it? I’d call it, but the battery is dead because I also lost the charger.

3. I managed 2000 words on my new project last night – a novel that was brewing while I worked on revisions for middle-grade-novel-that-used-to-be-called-MAPLE-GIRL. This new book has a title right now. I’m enjoying that while it lasts.

4. I have lost my marbles. Seriously. I have a jar of marbles in my classroom that I use for a voting activity in election years. I cannot find them (they are clear marbles that are hard to see – I should have gotten bright red ones). We are voting with paper clips instead right now. Juggling flaming tiki torches is all about flexibility.

5. I’m heading to the Finger Lakes this weekend to visit family and sign books at the Pat Rini Rohrer Gallery (71 South Main St.) in Canandaigua from 2-4 on Saturday. You’re invited, too!

5 1/2. If you see my marbles or my cell phone, would you please drop me a note? You can’t call because…well…you know…

One more thing…

CONTEST DEADLINE:

If you’d like to enter the drawing to win a signed copy of Champlain and the Silent One, click here to see the contest entry and leave a comment. The deadline is midnight, EST tonight, and winners will be announced on my blog on Monday!

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